Prince Harry to receive a Living Legend of Aviation award

[mrsmingleton]

https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/510988/prince-harry-ordered-huge-new-honour-star-studded-ceremony/

The Wright Brothers will be turning in their graves. I wonder what Buzz thinks .

@CathyorClaire

I'm trying to make the point (obviously badly) that at least some of the awards from this organisation appear to be an exercise in massaging celebrity egos rather than a celebration of genuine talent.

OK, get that, it was all the argument about incident/accident stuff that I was losing track off.

I don't think there's much doubt about the celebrity ego side to this, that's true. However we're back to the fact that at least the celebs chosen have in the main chosen put some/a lot of effort and often money into their aviation activities and many continue to fly. Harry hasn't and doesn't...that's what has caused the controversy in some circles.

As for the Guardian article, I saw it earlier...and whilst I'm normally a fan of Marina Hyde I'm afraid that piece was really really poor.

Clearly MH hasn't go a clue about the aviation side of this, fair enough, but that didn't stop her producing a badly informed whingefest aimed at the usual subjects, a bit like some of the earlier posts on this thread.

I hope at least in this place we have perhaps established that you can't encapsulate the entirety of Harrison Ford's aviating with the Santa Monica forced landing. As for MH and Travolta's 707 - that's much more than simply being a status symbol parked up on his driveway...that not so little project involved a lot money, effort and hard work on the part of JT.

https://simpleflying.com/john-travolta-jet-collection/

Is Bruce Dickinson one of their legends? He is both a rock star with Iron Maiden and flew commercially.

Do we think Harry (and Meghan) will turn up?

Do Supporters of them hope they will?

Good point, don't think so...he'd be a good fit but not sure how high his profile is in Hollywood.

Ticks a lot of boxes, commercial rating (737 and I think 757 and 747, possibly held an instructor rating as one point, not sure) done some display flying in a replica WW1 aircraft..and also a bit of an entrepreneur..

He even used to occasional pop up on some of the on line aviation forums to do Q&As and somehow found time to sing in some band.. 😉

He's another one of those sickeningly multi talented individuals...and also a good guy socially by all accounts.

Yes I think so.

@notimagain I definitely find people who don't get boxed in (and bogged down) by their first profession very inspirational. What a super cool bloke!

Absolutely..there's a few in the music industry - going back quite a bit further than Bruce D if you are looking for other musician aviators you've got Gary Numan...

Very keen on aviation from a young age, licences etc, did a round the world trip in a lightish aircraft with a mate..then went into aerobatic flying which eventually led to him doing airshow flying at times as part of a formation aeros team..

And there's more - he was an international level fencer. Team GB - in youth competitions (long ago I had a mate who was on same national level training path) and again as a veteran - presumably the rock lifestyle got in the way a bit in the middle!

Oh wow, no way, @GlacindaTheTroll ! What a life!

@notimagain I did not know that about Gary Newman. I just looked at his wiki page. He sounds like an intrepid eccentric from a bygone era! A real pity he gave up after losing his friends. I gather he lives in the States, so he would be another excellent candidate for legend, even if he no longer flies (since Harry doesn't either).

@Mymilkshakebringsallthepapstomycar Apparently King Max-Willem, in order to keep in practice, occasionally flies as a guest pilot for KLM Cityhopper.
You never know who's lurking in the cockpit.

It has definitely raised the profile of the award. I'm not sure whether it has raised it in a positive way. I'm now chuckling at several people on the list of recipients.

This is probably one of those areas where the divide between US and UK culture is revealed. I find it weird to pay for an award, whoever you are, but if it is an accepted way of raising money for charity there why not give one to anyone who is prepared to pay.

It would probably have helped to call it something other than "Living Legend" though, that's a pretty high bar.

Do we think Harry (and Meghan) will turn up?

Pretty sure Harold will show but he's put himself in a position where he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't so he might decide to cut his PR losses.

Awards ceremony is on 19 January, in Beverley Hills, so we'll know fairly soon

@Tezza1

”Apparently King Max-Willem, in order to keep in practice, occasionally flies as a guest pilot for KLM Cityhopper.“

He does or did.

I’ve emphasized some of what you wrote because it highlights a reason why in the context of this discussion some celebs are being portrayed as being more highly regarded than others when it comes to flying.

Pilot licences and the ratings (qualifications) attached to them have various tiers of difficulty and are perishable. To keep them valid you need to keep flying on a routine basis and keep passing recurrent check rides with examiners..that can be very expensive and involves a lot of graft…

It’s a big commitment to do that on a basic aircraft, it can be a really big commitment, both in terms of time and money if you are trying to keep something more involved going like a multi engined instrument rating qualification going…which is something Ford, Travolta and some other high rollers and celebs have done.

OTOH many with lots of money but no real interest in flying opt for the easy life and buy the status symbol jet to park on the drive but employ a crew (common in places like the Gulf) or hire a biz jet when they feel the need to fly..

Tonight’s the night H picks up his award. 🥇

I can’t see how he can turn up, his dad going into hospital, Kate in hospital, him having to drop his law suit, the outcry over the award, turning up will have him having even worse headlines.

They are on their way !

None of those seem remotely related. They are an ocean and 8 timezones apart from one another. He doesn't need to coordinate his activities with his family. That's a weird suggestion and those who find a reason to complain need to give their heads a shake.

I think so too. There will be a serious need for pilots and people in the aviation industry in the near future

.

It’s interesting Meghan didn’t attend

Harry attended on his own. He was photographed with Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg Lippe. I have never heard of him before, but that's a great name.

That is a mouthful of a name, never heard of him either.

I just googled him, he is a German working 'Royal'. 😏😏, (another faux Royal like the Greeks), has an ImDB account and lists himself as a producer, reporter etc. etc. etc.

"Prince Mario-Max eventually landed work as a Royal correspondent for CBS, expert for Disney's ABC Network, Royals commentator for FOX and stared in productions for BRAVO, VH1, Warner Brothers Television and in Celebrity Big Brother by Endemol. He is a renown expert for Royal themes on TV'

Ah. It does seem as if a Princely title does open doors in the USA. Perhaps a good contact for Harry.

😀His IMDB bio is gushing (the artists compose the bio themselves), he sounds like he has been knocking on lots of doors for years as his 'experience' is so vast. Still he has been unknown until ihs photo with Harry.